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Wayne Boatwright
 
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Default Freezer Question

We have a 16 cu.ft. Frigidaire frost-free upright freezer that was
purchased about 4 years ago.

From the first day we plugged it in, the temperature has ranged from 0°F to
+5°F. The salesman recommended setting the control to it coldest setting,
and it has always been set there.

In the past several months, the temperature has been creeping up to around
30°F, and we quit keeping items in it that required being frozen solid.

Last weekend when I opened the freezer to remove a few things, the
temperature had risen to around 45°F. Most of the contents were at least
partially frozen, so we transferred as much as we could to our refrigerator
freezer. During this time the freezer door remained fully open. When we
were finished, I spent a few minutes wiping down the interior and the
inside of the door as the surfaces were all moist. Finally, we closed the
door and our thoughts turned to replacing the freezer.

A few hours later I thought of something I had left in the freezer and went
to retrieve it. Much to my surprise, the temperature had dropped to -10°
F., where it has remained ever since. It had never reached this
temperature before.

Note that the freezer has never been without power, nor has it ever been
turned off. The temperature setting has remained at maximum.

I simply can't figure this out and I wonder if anyone here might have an
explanation. Any ideas?

TIA

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.
  #2   Report Post  
Eric
 
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Default

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

We have a 16 cu.ft. Frigidaire frost-free upright freezer that was
purchased about 4 years ago.

From the first day we plugged it in, the temperature has ranged from 0°F
to
+5°F. The salesman recommended setting the control to it coldest setting,
and it has always been set there.

In the past several months, the temperature has been creeping up to around
30°F, and we quit keeping items in it that required being frozen solid.

Last weekend when I opened the freezer to remove a few things, the
temperature had risen to around 45°F. Most of the contents were at least
partially frozen, so we transferred as much as we could to our
refrigerator
freezer. During this time the freezer door remained fully open. When we
were finished, I spent a few minutes wiping down the interior and the
inside of the door as the surfaces were all moist. Finally, we closed the
door and our thoughts turned to replacing the freezer.

A few hours later I thought of something I had left in the freezer and
went
to retrieve it. Much to my surprise, the temperature had dropped to -10°
F., where it has remained ever since. It had never reached this
temperature before.

Note that the freezer has never been without power, nor has it ever been
turned off. The temperature setting has remained at maximum.

I simply can't figure this out and I wonder if anyone here might have an
explanation. Any ideas?

TIA

probably a bad thermostat - right from day 1
Eric

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BobK207
 
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Default

I assume it was a frost free model?

If so sometimes they fail to defrost completely & you get continued
buildup of frost (ice) on the coils. The fridge in my mom's garage
(1966 Frigidarie) w/ a bottom freezer was getting progressly warmer
over the last few months.

There was a small amount of frost in the freezer compartment so I
decided to "defrost" manually by shutting it off. I also removed the
lower aluminum panel in the freezer compartment to expose the coils,
thye were packed solid with ice. I shop vac'd out the ice by melting
with warm water.

I reassembled everything & it's been running fine since then (about a
month).

Maybe you did an inadvertant defrost? YMMV

cheers
Bob

  #4   Report Post  
Wayne Boatwright
 
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Default

On Wed 07 Sep 2005 07:50:24p, Eric wrote in alt.home.repair:

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

We have a 16 cu.ft. Frigidaire frost-free upright freezer that was
purchased about 4 years ago.

From the first day we plugged it in, the temperature has ranged from
0°F to +5°F. The salesman recommended setting the control to it
coldest setting, and it has always been set there.

In the past several months, the temperature has been creeping up to
around 30°F, and we quit keeping items in it that required being frozen
solid.

Last weekend when I opened the freezer to remove a few things, the
temperature had risen to around 45°F. Most of the contents were at
least partially frozen, so we transferred as much as we could to our
refrigerator freezer. During this time the freezer door remained fully
open. When we were finished, I spent a few minutes wiping down the
interior and the inside of the door as the surfaces were all moist.
Finally, we closed the door and our thoughts turned to replacing the
freezer.

A few hours later I thought of something I had left in the freezer and
went to retrieve it. Much to my surprise, the temperature had dropped
to -10° F., where it has remained ever since. It had never reached
this temperature before.

Note that the freezer has never been without power, nor has it ever
been turned off. The temperature setting has remained at maximum.

I simply can't figure this out and I wonder if anyone here might have
an explanation. Any ideas?

TIA

probably a bad thermostat - right from day 1
Eric



Thanks, Eric. Now that you mentioned thermostat, I wonder if maybe it was
just "stuck" somehow and is now working normally? It might be worth
monitoring for a while to see if the temp begins to vary again. I had a
similar freezer previously, and was always able to maintain -10°F. I had
that freezer for over 12 years when I moved out of state and left it
behind.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.
  #5   Report Post  
TURTLE
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Wayne Boatwright" wrote in message
...
We have a 16 cu.ft. Frigidaire frost-free upright freezer that was
purchased about 4 years ago.

From the first day we plugged it in, the temperature has ranged from 0°F to
+5°F. The salesman recommended setting the control to it coldest setting,
and it has always been set there.

In the past several months, the temperature has been creeping up to around
30°F, and we quit keeping items in it that required being frozen solid.

Last weekend when I opened the freezer to remove a few things, the
temperature had risen to around 45°F. Most of the contents were at least
partially frozen, so we transferred as much as we could to our refrigerator
freezer. During this time the freezer door remained fully open. When we
were finished, I spent a few minutes wiping down the interior and the
inside of the door as the surfaces were all moist. Finally, we closed the
door and our thoughts turned to replacing the freezer.

A few hours later I thought of something I had left in the freezer and went
to retrieve it. Much to my surprise, the temperature had dropped to -10°
F., where it has remained ever since. It had never reached this
temperature before.

Note that the freezer has never been without power, nor has it ever been
turned off. The temperature setting has remained at maximum.

I simply can't figure this out and I wonder if anyone here might have an
explanation. Any ideas?

TIA

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.


This is Turtle.

I would have to be there to say for sure of anything but what you said and i
read , it seems to me it would be the thermostat. It being a defrost timer,
Defrost terminator, defrost Element, Compressor, and dirty condenser coil have
been ruled out by what has been said here but not the thermostat.

TURTLE




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Wayne Boatwright
 
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Default

On Wed 07 Sep 2005 08:37:52p, BobK207 wrote in alt.home.repair:

I assume it was a frost free model?


Yes, it's a frost free unit.


If so sometimes they fail to defrost completely & you get continued
buildup of frost (ice) on the coils. The fridge in my mom's garage
(1966 Frigidarie) w/ a bottom freezer was getting progressly warmer
over the last few months.

There was a small amount of frost in the freezer compartment so I
decided to "defrost" manually by shutting it off. I also removed the
lower aluminum panel in the freezer compartment to expose the coils,
thye were packed solid with ice. I shop vac'd out the ice by melting
with warm water.

I reassembled everything & it's been running fine since then (about a
month).

Maybe you did an inadvertant defrost? YMMV


I'm going to check it out closer now that you've brought this up.


--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.
  #7   Report Post  
Wayne Boatwright
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Wed 07 Sep 2005 09:08:08p, TURTLE wrote in alt.home.repair:


"Wayne Boatwright" wrote in message
...
We have a 16 cu.ft. Frigidaire frost-free upright freezer that was
purchased about 4 years ago.

From the first day we plugged it in, the temperature has ranged from
0°F to +5°F. The salesman recommended setting the control to it
coldest setting, and it has always been set there.

In the past several months, the temperature has been creeping up to
around 30°F, and we quit keeping items in it that required being frozen
solid.

Last weekend when I opened the freezer to remove a few things, the
temperature had risen to around 45°F. Most of the contents were at
least partially frozen, so we transferred as much as we could to our
refrigerator freezer. During this time the freezer door remained fully
open. When we were finished, I spent a few minutes wiping down the
interior and the inside of the door as the surfaces were all moist.
Finally, we closed the door and our thoughts turned to replacing the
freezer.

A few hours later I thought of something I had left in the freezer and
went to retrieve it. Much to my surprise, the temperature had dropped
to -10° F., where it has remained ever since. It had never reached
this temperature before.

Note that the freezer has never been without power, nor has it ever
been turned off. The temperature setting has remained at maximum.

I simply can't figure this out and I wonder if anyone here might have
an explanation. Any ideas?

TIA

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four, unless
there are three other people.


This is Turtle.

I would have to be there to say for sure of anything but what you said
and i read , it seems to me it would be the thermostat. It being a
defrost timer, Defrost terminator, defrost Element, Compressor, and
dirty condenser coil have been ruled out by what has been said here but
not the thermostat.

TURTLE


Thanks, Turtle. It does seem like the most likly suspect. I'll look
further into it.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.
  #8   Report Post  
h1ebs
 
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Default


My 2 cents, If it is not frost free, I agree probably tstat. If it gets
warm again unplug and take off electrical cover and look for a small
square shaped component that has to wires going to it and a very thin
metal wire, It actually has inert gas in it. This is the thermostat.
put both wires together you are now bypassing the tstat. Make sure
wires are secure and insulated from touching any metal parts of freezer
or you may get a shock or blow breaker. If freezer keeps temp for a
period of time you now know you need a thermostat. If it is frost free
then there can be quite a few things causing the problem.


--
h1ebs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
h1ebs's Profile: http://www.homeplot.com/member.php?userid=81
View this thread: http://www.homeplot.com/showthread.php?t=58107

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Wayne Boatwright
 
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On Thu 08 Sep 2005 03:18:58p, h1ebs wrote in alt.home.repair:


My 2 cents, If it is not frost free, I agree probably tstat. If it gets
warm again unplug and take off electrical cover and look for a small
square shaped component that has to wires going to it and a very thin
metal wire, It actually has inert gas in it. This is the thermostat.
put both wires together you are now bypassing the tstat. Make sure
wires are secure and insulated from touching any metal parts of freezer
or you may get a shock or blow breaker. If freezer keeps temp for a
period of time you now know you need a thermostat. If it is frost free
then there can be quite a few things causing the problem.



Thank you. It is a frost free model, but I'm going to be checking out the
thermostat further.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.
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